Serpent Tongues & Snape
by FeatherQuill
Summary: When Harry is fifteen, he receives a very interesting letter from his mother. It takes him on a wild ride with adventures, intrigue, mystery, a snake called Sabrina, Severus Snape, Drakie in leather and evil cheese. ******THIRD CHAPTER UP NOW!!!!!!******
1. The Letter

**Serpent Tongues & Snape**

**Chapter One – The Letter**

Summary: When Harry is fifteen, he receives a very interesting letter from his mother courtesy of Dumbledore. It tells him secrets that he has never known, and takes him on a wild ride with adventures, intrigue, mystery, a little friendly snake called Sabrina, Severus Snape, Drakie in leather and evil cheese that Ron swears is out to get him. And of course a bit of snogging.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

*

"Today we will be making a Sneezing Potion," said Severus Snape icily to the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. "This potion, brewed correctly, will make the person drinking it sneeze for several minutes straight, allowing enough time between each one only to breathe. But for goodness sakes, Longbottom, try not to mess this up as you usually do, I once had a student who brewed this incorrectly and he couldn't breathe because of the constant sneezing. Nearly suffocated."  He swept towards the front of the room, choosing to ignore Neville Longbottom's face growing more terrified by the minute. "Partner up."

Harry and Ron instantly moved together, and Hermione set her things next to Neville. Grateful that he wouldn't suffocate on the potion now, Neville gave Hermione a small smile. "It's ok Neville, I'll help you," she whispered.

"You think Snape's hair got any greasier?" Ron mumbled to Harry.

"Nah," he muttered back. "Can't get any greasier than twenty years of slime, can it?" They shared a brief laugh, but ceased immediately when he came over to check how they were doing. "Potter, I see you've forgotten to put in the hedgehog quills before you boil the potion, haven't you? That's five points from Gryffindor." That was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, and would probably had resulted in many points lost for Gryffindor had not Ron kicked him hard under the table. Waiting until he left to check on Neville and Hermione, he turned to Ron. 

"Ron!" he hissed. "What was that for?"

"To stop you losing hundreds of points," said Ron matter-of-factly. 

*

Albus Dumbledore frowned at the letter before him. "How could this be?" he muttered. After living for as long as he had, nearly nothing surprised him. However, this had, to say the least, floored him. 

*

"Oof!" 

"Oof? What kind of a word is that?"

"It's the I-Just-Got-Out-Of-Double-Potions-And-About-To-Collapse oof."

Ron grinned at his best friend spread out on the soft armchair beside him. Harry moaned, and pushed his glasses up to his forehead, rubbing his eyes. "_Three_ hours. _Three_. I can't believe. It's unbelievable, that's why."

"Oh, do stop moaning Harry," said Hermione crossly, coming up behind them. "We all had potions, and to be honest, I think Neville got it worse than you did."

"True," Harry admitted. "But I still think that—"

"Aaaaggghhhhh!"

The three of them bolted upright. "What was that?" Hermione whispered to the two, her eyes wide. 

"Aaaahhhhh! Snake! Snake!"

Ron and Hermione flopped back onto the armchairs in the Gryffindor common room, but Harry stood up. "Hermione, take me to the girl's dormitories."

She raised an eyebrow. "Harry," she said, amused. "I hardly think this is the time or place fo—"

"No! I want to stop that girl screaming."

She sighed, and led him through a portrait, leading him to the yells of over-excited girls.

He stepped in, and immediately the yells ceased. All that was left was a little hissing voice.

_"Honestly, they see one little harmless snake, and they think I'm going to kill them. Well, really."_

Harry stepped forward and extended an arm towards the little red and green snake.

_"Come with me, I will not hurt you,"_ he hissed to him. Or her. Harry wasn't sure yet.

_"What? One that speaks the ancient serpent tongue? Who are you?"_

_"My name is Harry Potter,"_ he hissed to the snake, completely unaware of the incredulous looks the girls were giving him.

_"Hello, Harry Potter."_

_"What do you want me to do with you?"_

_"I am cold, Harry Potter. Please take me with you."_

Looking unsure, Harry lifted up the sleeve of his robe and wrapped the snake around his left forearm.

_"It is dark Harry Potter."_ A pause. _"I like it."_

*

Severus Snape straightened his robes, and knocked on the Headmaster's office. It opened straight away, and Severus walked through, greeting the old white-bearded man sitting behind his desk, stroking his magnificent phoenix. 

"You wanted to see me, Albus?" he asked him mildly.

"Severus."

"Is there something wrong?" He sat down on a chair, his face displaying no emotion.

"I have here a letter, Severus. It's from Lily."

Anyone watching that scene would have been shocked at what those nine words did to the man. His face went white, and he began to slip off his chair. "Li- Lily?" he croaked.

Albus Dumbledore nodded his head gravely. "Yes, Severus," he said softly to the shaking man. "She wrote it two months before she passed, in case anything ever happened to her."

Severus Snape sat there, dumbfounded. Lily, his one true love, the only one who had loved him in return. 

"Lily," a much younger and handsomer Severus Snape said quietly to the blushing red-headed girl before him. "Will you marry me?" He opened a large black velvet box, revealing a rose gold band studded with topaz jewels.

She threw her arms around his neck. "Of course I will," she breathed. "I love you."

His thoughts rushed forward to a year later.

He walked into their living room. "Lily," he said dully. 

"Severus? Is there something wrong?" she answered.

"Oh, Lily," he said, hugging her, feeling a tingle behind his eyes. "The Dark Lord knows." She withdrew from his grasp and gasped. "No," she said faintly. "It's a mistake."

"I'm afraid not. I managed to escape with my life, but I did something I think you will hate me for."

"I could never hate you Severus. But what did you do?"

"You know your Auror partner? What's his name-James? I made out that you two were about to be married, that I was simply spying, trying to gather information."

"But, what does this mean?" she asked him, puzzled.

"It means, that you have to move in with James, or I fear the Dark Lord will kill us both."

She gave a muffled sob. "I can't, I can't. Oh, Severus."

"We will never divorce, I will always be with you Lily. You know that."

"I know, I know…" she cried into his chest.

His thoughts skipped over to the next few months.

The Potter's wedding had been a grand affair, Severus had made sure of that. He made sure that Voldemort would never suspect that he, Severus Snape, Death Eater, Servant to the Dark Lord, was married to Lily Evans. They saw each other whenever they could. James knew about them, and his marriage was fake, he knew that also. He was doing it to protect Lily, but Severus wasn't sure how far he had gone with her. He had never been sure. But when Harry had shown up at Hogwarts eleven years later, the spitting image of James, Snape knew. He just knew. 

"Severus?" A soft voice broke into his thoughts. He shook himself, and turned to face the sympathetic look of Albus Dumbledore.

"I have the letter here. She instructed me to read it, then give it to you, when Harry was fifteen and one month."

"A month?" Snape cracked a wry grin.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his glasses. "She always had this strange obsession with months…"

"But what does the letter say?" Severus pressed.

"I have to warn you Severus, that this letter will change your life forever if you read it. Are you sure you still want to do it?"

"What do you mean? Of course I'm sure! Let me have Lily's letter, please Albus."

He sighed, and handed Severus Snape a crumbling piece of parchment.

*

"Harry, that's really creeping me out."

"What, Ron?"

"You hissing to that snake all the time. It gives me the creeps!"

"Calm down!"

"What is the matter, Harry Potter?" came an inquiring voice from his side.

"Nothing," he hissed back. "Go back to sleep."

"There you go again," Ron said, exasperated, blowing a piece of hair off his face.

He rolled his eyes. "Where's Hermione?"

He didn't need to answer, for in unison, they both said, "Library."

"Honestly, she's doing more studying for the O.W.Ls than Dumbledore did, I'm betting," Ron complained.

Harry cracked a grin. "Yeah, and I'm betting that she'll do better on them, too."

*

Severus looked down on the paper, stunned. He could not believe it. He reread it, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Dear Albus and Severus,

                                    I am hoping that this letter need never be read, but as a precaution, I am writing this to both of you. Firstly, to Albus – the jade monkey was never mine, I found it when I was six. I know that I should have told you, but it was so pretty when I was young, I never thought that it was yours. I'm sorry.

                                    Next, to Severus. Darling, I miss you and love you so much, and I hope beyond all my strength that you never have to read this. I also hope that you have met Harry, and that you love him as much as I do. Severus – Harry is not James'. He is yours. When he was born, James thought it best that I bewitched him to look like James, for if anyone grew suspicious. That is why he looks so much like him, I swear. Please, Severus, take care of him, I know now that he is old enough to handle the truth. I love you.

                                                                         Lily

He collapsed onto his bed, in the far east corner of the Slytherin dungeons. He had a secret entryway, and office, that no one knew of.

Thoughts and actions swirled around his head. 'How will I tell Harry? Will he change? Will I change? Oh my God. I'm a father!' It was the last one that did it. He jumped up and wrung his hands together. "Ok, Severus, calm down, calm down, calm do—"

"Severus?"

"Aaah! Albus, please, do not do that again!" He dropped onto his bed, and held his head, moaning. 

"Severus, I suggest that you get some rest. I would advise on telling Harry this as soon as possible, please meet me in my office at nine tomorrow morning."

He nodded, and Albus left him.

*

"Why does Dumbledore want to see me?" Harry said, confused.

"It's probably all that business with You-Know-Who," said Ron.

"But it can't be about Volde—"

"Don't say the name!"

"mort, or otherwise he would just get me up there as soon as possible."  
"Harry, you'll find out tomorrow, just go to bed now, and get some rest."

"Thanks, Hermione."

The three friends parted, leaving Hermione to her books, Ron to his chess set and Harry to his thoughts.

*

If you enjoyed this story, then please write a review. It doesn't have to be fantastic, just a simple 'good story write more' would suffice. Please? Do it because I have no life and need reviews.

But if you are going to flame, don't bother. If you don't have anything nice to say, then say nothing at all.

In the next chapter… 

Does Harry find out the truth? How does Sevvie react? And will the evil cheese make an appearance? 


	2. Harry Finds Out

**DISCLAIMER: ** 

Twinkle twinkle little cat who sat on a mat wearing a hat holding a baseball bat, 

I don't own Harry Potter though I think I should because tit too tat. Uh – huh!

Take that Warner Bros!!

**NEED TO KNOW:** Ok, there is a story on schnoogle that someone has commented that is like this where Harry is Snape's son, and only looks like James because of a spell. First, I had **never** read the story before, so I'm sorry for any confusion. Second, please do not mention it again, I am **not** stealing anyone's storyline, it's just that GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA*cough*HAHAHAHA*cough cough*HAHAH!! 

**Serpent Tongues & Snape**

**Chapter Two – Harry Finds Out**

*

Harry climbed the stairs to Dumbledore's office, scared. 

"Why are you scared, Harry Potter?"

"Because I don't know what's going to happen."

"Have you decided a name for me yet, Harry Potter?" 

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Harry? And no, not yet. What about Sabrina?" 

"I will think about that one." They were nearly at the top of the stairs now. Harry adjusted his glasses, took a deep breath, opened the door, and promptly nearly fell flat on his face.

"Harry?"

He looked up from where he was lying. "Yes?" he said, trying to sound nonchalant. 

"I really must have that step fixed," Albus Dumbledore muttered, waving his wand. In an instant, Harry's glasses were back on his face, and they were no longer cracked.

"Thanks," he said, getting up and brushing himself off. He looked around. There was Fawkes, sitting on his stand, as fiery red and gold as ever. The stone Pensieve was barely visible, tucked behind a bookshelf now. There, sitting on the couch was –

Severus Snape?

Harry cast a nervous look to the man sitting on the couch. He was leaning back, had his eyes closed, and Harry noticed some deep purple circles under his eyes.

"Harry, please sit down."

Harry nodded to Dumbledore and sat on the couch as well, as far away from Snape as possible.

"Harry, two months before your mother passed, she left a letter telling us some very surprising things." He picked up the piece of parchment on his desk, and handed it to Harry, who read it. Minutes passed while he stared at the piece of paper, in silence. "I – I don't get it," he said with a forced smile.

"Harry, your mother and Professor Snape were a happily married couple. When Voldemort found out about them, he barely let Professor Snape escape with his life. He convinced Lily and James to move in together, pretending they were married, so to protect Lily from dying. James knew about it of course, they were best friends, those two. Heck of an Auror team, as well. Put many the Death Eater in Azkaban."

"I still don't understand." Harry blinked, his thoughts swirling around in his head. Mum? And Snape? That's disgusting, it really is… why are they telling me this?

"Harry, we also found out that James was not your father, that Severus is. We realise that this may come as a shock to you…"

But Harry tuned him out. He slumped onto the couch, his eyes wide and blinking furiously. Prongs? Not my dad? No no no no… it has to be a mistake, it has to be…

"And we don't expect you to make any changes at all to your life, you can continue in the Gryffindor quarters—"

"This isn't funny! It's not possible, either you too are cooking up a really early April Fool's or something, because none of this ever happened, I am not Snape's son!" Harry hissed. He stormed out of the office, ran back to the Gryffindor tower, ignored the shouts of "Hey, slow down!" and collapsed on his bed. He stared blankly at the sunny day outside, his eyes filling with tears. "No," he whispered into the silent room.

"Hey, Harry!" he heard a voice shouting, and footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Ron?" 

"Yeah, who else, ya ninny? I saw you come racing up here like there was no tomorrow… are you crying?"

Harry wiped his eyes hastily. "No," he said finally. "But I did find out something that's going to scar me for life."

10 min later…

"What? You mean, Snape, ugly greasy Snape is… your father?" Ron stared at Harry incredously.

"Yup," he answered quietly. They were missing Transfiguration at the moment, but neither of them really did care.

"So that means that you—"

"Look, Ron, I don't really want to talk about it," Harry cut in. "I just want to go for a ride, ok? I'll see you in Charms."

"Ok," Ron said, puzzled. He watched as Harry grabbed his Firebolt from his trunk, and flew out the window.

*

Severus lay on his bed. He didn't have any classes today, they would start tomorrow, beginning with *gulp* double potions with the fifth year Gryffindors. Would Harry refuse to accept him as his father? he wondered. "Potter… So James isn't his father, I am… oh, God."

*

Harry swept through the night, letting the cool air rush through his hair and wash his face… He was hardly visible in the pale moonlight, which was lucky, because right now he estimated he was flying over the sea. 

He sighed, and turned his broom around. He shouldn't travel too far, he had classes tomorrow… starting with double potions. Harry groaned. How could he face Snape, now, after he had found out all this? After Snape had tortured him and his friends for being Gryffindors… although it would explain something. Harry had always wondered why Severus Snape had hated him before he had even met him face to face… well now he knew. If Snape had thought that Harry was James' son, then of course he would hate him, thinking that Lily had cheated on him. Still…

*

Severus wrung his hands. "Calm down Severus, it's only potions with the little fifth years, pretend Pott— Harry isn't there…"

He assumed his ice-cold glare and strode into the classroom. Immediately the noise stopped. "Get out your cauldron, Finnigan," he snapped, brushing past him. He reached the front and turned around. Harry was sitting up the back, with dark circles under his eyes, not unlike the ones Severus had.

"Today we will be making a truth potion. It is one of the mildest it is, anyone with will can easily avoid matter at hand, and it is not painful like some of the stronger ones, but of course you cannot lie, for any truth potion, no matter how weak, still does not permit lying. Dumbledore has given me special permission to teach these to you, and we will be testing all of them after they are finished. We will build up to the stronger ones, and see who can last longest without telling anything," he said with a sneer. He flicked his wand, and the instructions appeared on the board. "First, fill the cauldron a third full with water, then…"

The lesson progressed quite easily. Severus avoided looking up the back as much as possible, where Harry was nearly falling asleep with exhaustion.

"Where were you last night?" Hermione whispered to him.

"I went for a— for a—" he yawned. "Ride on my broomstick."

"How far did you fly, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I think I flew somewhere over London."

"No wonder you're tired Harry!"

"Harry— Ron told me about, you know," Hermione said to him, sympathy on her face.

"It's ok," he told her quietly.

An hour passed easily enough, and then it was time to test the potions. Neville went first, shaking and quivering. Snape gave him a spoonful of his own potion, and Neville promptly began to sprout feathers.

"I should have known… Hospital wing, Neville!" Severus said viciously as the Slytherins burst out laughing. "Next…" he looked down on his list. "Potter." 

There was silence in the room as Harry walked up with his cauldron. Snape gave a small, tired smile and tipped some of it down Harry's throat.

After he had swallowed it, Snape sat him down in a chair. "Potter, what is two times three?"

"Six."

"Headmaster of this school?"

"A man." Snape looked surprised at this. "What is his name?" he pressed.

"His name is the same as his father's before him." Harry looked the tiniest bit smug. He wasn't answering a single more question of Snape's.

"Sit down, Potter." He did so, among cheers from the fellow Gryffindors, and Severus silenced them with a look.

"Thomas…"

*

Harry hung around after the lesson. He cast a glance nervously down the hall, and tried to flatten his hair. James' hair. Which he might not have anymore. He walked down to Snape's office, and knocked quietly. He waited for a while, then decided no one was in there, and turned around. But he then heard a quiet, "come in, come in."

He held up his head and walked in. Severus looked up, and Harry noticed the registered surprise on his face. He was sitting on a chair in front of the fire, holding a half-full glass of scotch in his hand.

_"Harry Potter?"_ Harry sighed.

_"What?"_ he hissed back.

_"I have decided I like the name Sabrina, Harry Potter."_

"I'm glad, Sabrina. But would you mind not talking for a little while, I'm meeting with someone. And stop calling me Harry Potter."

She was silent after that. He turned back to Snape, who was looking at him curiously. "Who were you talking to?" he asked.

Harry lifted up the sleeve of his robe silently. Severus stood up and gasped. "What?" Harry asked, irritably.

"That snake… that is one of the most rarest snakes in the world!"

"No way," Harry scoffed. "Sabrina? I just found her in the dormitory."

"No, I'm sure! Her blood has amazing healing power… she's worth a fortune on the black market. Don't let anyone get to her, Harry," he warned.

He frowned. "No one's taking Sabrina, she's my friend."

Severus nodded, and the two lapsed into silence.

"Professor Snape…"

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering… well this is really weird and all. I mean, I've idolised James, I always have, he was always Prongs. He was always my dad. And now, you tell me that you're my dad… and everything's so weird."

"I know. And it will be for a while to come. You would think," he began, as Harry looked on. "That Lily would have said something? Something along the lines of, 'Hi Severus, you met Harry? Your son?'" he snarled. 

Harry nodded. Then a thought struck him. "Professor Snape, this is going to change things, isn't it?"

"Yes Harry, it will change many things."

"Will I have to call you something different? Do I have to live with you?" Harry blurted out.

Severus looked surprised. "You can choose whether to call me something different… at school it will always be Professor Snape, but out of school, if you want you may call me Severus. I don't expect you to call me 'dad' for a long time. And you may live with me if you wish, I have a small flat in Hogsmeade. Although if you prefer to stay with those Muggles you're with, then I won't stop you."

"The Dursleys?" Harry shook his head. "I'd prefer to live with Attila the Hun." Seeing Snape's blank stare, he changed the subject. "The letter said that I only look like James because mum bewitched me like that… do I really look like you? Can I see?"

Snape allowed himself a small smile, stood up and reached for his wand. Standing up, he began a string of Latin phrases that astounded Harry, and Harry felt himself changing.

His hair grew longer, and he himself grew taller. His skin paled slightly, and his cheekbones rised. Looking around, he saw that everything had gone blurry. He took his glasses off, and was able to see perfectly. His hair grew thicker and darker, and Severus felt his eyes widen at how much Harry looked like him. "Holy—"

*

"Shittara, please return that crystal ball to its rightful position," snapped Professor Trelawny.

*

He looked stunned. "Oh my God," Harry breathed.

Severus allowed himself a small smile, but his face was soon marred by a small frown. "It's time for your class, Harry. I will change you back." Harry nodded, and transformed into his usual self. He walked out the door, hardly watching where he was going, his mind abuzz and full of things to come.

***

It doesn't stop there! We have *drumroll please ladies and gentlemen* 

**EXciteMENT!!!**

**adVENTure!!!**

**LEATHER PANTS AND EVIL CHEESE!!!!!**

So keep tuned!

If you enjoyed this story, then please write a review. It doesn't have to be fantastic, just a simple 'good story write more' would suffice. Please? Do it because I have no life and need reviews. But if you are going to flame, don't bother. If you don't have anything nice to say, then say nothing at all.

Bye bye!! 


	3. Oooh, Tensions Arise

Wow, this chapter took a bloody long time if I do say so myself. I am going to try and continue this, simply because I love you all. Awww…

By the by, if you are into Slytherin fics, try this new one I found, by elvenquill, called Serpent Carvings. It's quite good, but I can only hope that she finishes it and doesn't leave it for ages as I have done with this one. *blushes*

**Serpent Tongues & Snape**

**Chapter Three – A New Beginning… or is it?**

Harry was tired. Harry was very, very tired. He had not slept for several days, and had not attended Potions class the past few lessons. Professor Snape had noticed this, and had passed it off as a simple, "Potter thinks he's too good for class," to please the Slytherins, and even he let himself smile a little at their readiness to insult each other.

Hermione and Ron, his two 'faithful' sidekicks had been worried about him… but Harry didn't care. His world was different, and it was crashing down around him… he was no longer the son of Padfoot. He felt distanced from everything that he knew… no long Padfoot's son, no longer related to the man he had idolised for so long in his life. 

And his mother? Lily Potter… Evans… Snape… Harry shuddered at the thought. Minutes after he had left Snape's office, after being changed to his supposed "real" form, a cold realisation had hit him. This was SNAPE. The man who he had thought had been after the Philosopher's Stone in first year, the one who had tormented them all in classes, who favoured the Slytherins…

…and he was Harry's father.

At the moment, Harry was sitting by himself near the lake, under a tree, hands playing absentmindedly with the dirt beneath him. He was sure he was missing something – lunch, or Transfiguration maybe. It didn't matter too much, not when he had so much to think about. He felt lost… Severus Snape. Severus Snape had helped to create him.

"Harry Snape," he mouthed, but even the words were unfamiliar in his mouth. 

_"Whatever is the matter, Harry Potter?"_ came a hissing voice from his side.

_"Don't,"_ Harry hissed back, choking somewhat, his hand clutching a handful of dirt. _"Don't call me by that name."_

* * *

"Now," Professor Severus Snape snarled to his students. "We will be continuing our tradition of truth potions and begin with one step up in strength… this is stronger than the last we made, and may I say, none of you hardly even survived that one. It was one of the weakest truth potions in existence, but after a few minutes of questioning, half of you were ready to spill your guts. Pitiful. Absolutely shocking… none of you would do well in any career that needed lying… so therefore, none of you here will _have_ a successful career."

Hermione rolled her eyes. _She _knew how to dodge questions… too bad Ron was so bad at lying. She could weasel the truth out of him even without a truth potion.

"Partner up," he snapped to them. "And for crying out loud Miss Brown, stop staring at Finnigan as though you could eat him and partner up with Parkinson."

Lavender Brown shot him a death glare and gathered up her things, setting them down with a huff next to Pansy Parkinson, who looked none to pleased to have Lavender as a partner, either.

In a short space of time, the class had partnered up, except for Harry, who was busy staring down into his Potions textbook, a vein twitching in his neck.

"Potter," Snape drawled, feeling slightly uncomfortable but doing his best not to show it. "There is an uneven number in the class. You shall work up front with me."

Harry did not move, but after an elbow from Hermione was jabbed in his ribs, he got up and shuffled lethargically towards the front, and began to assemble his ingredients. Snape looked around the class to make sure everyone was working, and looked down into Harry's cauldron.

"Put the feathers in next, Potter," Snape said to him. Harry tensed somewhat, but he did not respond. Snape sighed inwardly. Truth be told, he was much more awkward about the situation than Harry was, but decades of spying had led him to always assume a mask of cold indifference. 

"I think we should speak after class, Harry," Snape said to him in a low voice. 

His head jerked up. "And what could we possibly have to talk about?" he snapped, colour rising to his cheeks furiously. 

Snape frowned. "Everything. You have been missing from my classes the past few days… is…" Snape paused, feeling the words unfamiliar in his mouth, but felt it was his duty to ask them. "Everything all right?"

"Yes," Harry said sarcastically. "Oh, don't worry about be, I'm fine, always will be _fine_," he spat.

"Well of course it's not fine," Snape snapped, losing his temper somewhat. "As much as you want to bury your head in the sand we have a situation in our hands, and ignoring it will change nothing," he hissed viciously. 

"Yes," Harry said. "Ignoring the situation will do nothing. I'd much rather prefer to ignore you."

Nothing more was said on the matter, and Harry refused to speak to him, which was quite a change from the last time they had met. Severus Snape had thought they were at least getting somewhere… he never really had hated the boy as much as he had claimed. More the fact that he hated what he stood for – the fact that so many years ago, his love had been ripped from him, and up until now, he had believed that Harry had been James's son... something that could destroy a man. His chest had ached every time he had seen those green eyes staring at him, usually with either hate or loathing – which were the same thing, he admitted to himself. He did not deserve a son. Perhaps it had been a mistake to tell Harry of his true parentage… he imagined Harry meeting his mother, and nearly snorted. _No_, he told himself sternly. _Pay attention to the class._

* * *

Severus collapsed in his old armchair. "What a day…" he muttered to himself. Potions with all the fifth year classes, and one of the seventh years. Harry… he was always a puzzle. 

The last time Harry had come to see him, he had ended up taking the charm off him for a few minutes, as curious as he was to see what he looked like. Now? Harry wanted to never see him again… which, again, was understandable of the circumstances.

* * *

_"Severus," Lily whispered, her eyes filling with concern. "You're hurt."_

_Severus looked up from where he was cradling a wrist… most probably a broken one, Lily thought to herself._

_"Go away, Lily," Severus snarled. "You shouldn't be here."_

_Lily's temper flared up, as he knew it would. "Shouldn't BE here? Trying to find my own BOYFRIEND? How DARE you!"_

_She was cut off by a slight groan from Severus. "Lily, as much as I love hearing you yell," he muttered sarcastically. She rolled her eyes. "I am in pain… can't you do something?"_

_She bit her lip. God, how he loved her lips… and her flaming red hair, how he loved everything about her…_

_"Shouldn't we go to Madame Pomfrey?" she ventured, unsure._

_"No!" he said sharply. "No," he repeated to himself. "Please… just do something."_

_Lily sighed, and knelt down next to him, bringing out her wand. He watched as she muttered a short spell, and the pain from his arm disappeared. _

_"Thank you," he said to her briefly, his dark eyes looking at hers. "You are so beautiful," he muttered, hardly aware of what he was saying._

_Lily looked at him and smiled. "And you, Severus Snape… despite what you may think about yourself, are a beautiful person too."_

_"If I'm so beautiful, why do I have a broken wrist? Did," he corrected himself._

_She frowned. "How did you get that, any way?"_

_Severus sighed, and leant against the brick wall of the topmost of the Astronomy tower. "Some Gryffindor cronies," he said. _

_"Sirius?"_

_"Black… yes, him… damn Black…"_

_Lily sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, stopping to cup his chair. "Forget about Black," she said firmly. "He is not worth any of this."_

_"I know…" he muttered. Severus looked up to lock her eyes with his. "But it was worth it, just to have you alone for a few moments," he whispered._

* * *

YAAAAAAAAAAY! ONE MORE CHAPTER! Man, it took awhile, didn't it? Nevermind, I am hoping that you all enjoyed this one. But I am very disappointed that neither evil cheese OR leather pants showed up in this one. *pouts*

Oh well, maybe next chapter. Anyhoo, review! I wrote this chapter simply for YOU, the people who reviewed me, and I am SO INCREDIBLY SORRY it took me so long. *hits herself* Ow.

Review, and evil cheese MAY just feature in the next chapter. Or leather pants. On Draco. Or Snape… ooh, the possibilities…


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